


Cage of Love

by Goldmund



Category: The Strain (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-25 11:09:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4958191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldmund/pseuds/Goldmund
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternative ending to Fallen Light. Coco doesn't die. The Master infects her instead so she's supposed to slowly turn to become one of the Strigoi. Eldritch plans to keep her with him.<br/>I had no Beta, so sorry for any mistakes. I'm no native speaker either. No idea why I like creepy pairings so much. Palmer/Coco is my guilty pleasure right now. Enjoy.<br/>This is supposed to become a multi-chapter fic to entertain myself during the hiatus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Infected

Coco was terrified. She had cried for hours in his arms. 

When her tears finally had stopped to fall she became angry. Coco started to scream at him. She hit him and scratched him. Coco insulted Eldritch, calling him all kinds of names. He took her harsh words and her violent impulses. When Coco finally had finished destroying half of the items in his town house she became very still and withdrew into herself. She sat on the armchair in front of the fire place, looking into the flickering flames. 

Eldritch thought of ways how to kill them both, fast and painless. He could kill her in her sleep and afterwards he would just jump out of the window or he could take a bath and cut his wrists open. Either way he would have to do the cruelest thing in the world. He’d have to kill the one person he loved most. 

“I don’t want to die, Eldritch.” Coco interrupted his thoughts. 

“I am so sorry”, he told her aware of how stupid he must sound. She looked like her lovely self. Nothing indicated that she soon would turn into a monster.

“You wanted to tell me something before I became angry. What was it?” 

Eldritch approached her and got down on his knees in front of Coco. He took his lover’s hand.

“This is very hard. I wish I could take everything back. I wish I never had revolted against the creature. I never wanted you to get hurt.”

Coco’s eyes were filled with tears again. Eldritch took her in his arms. 

“I won’t give you up. I can’t. I’ll keep you here with me. I’ll keep you safe.”

“But what will happen to us? We cannot be together once I’ve turned. I’ll kill you.”

“No, no. It won’t come to that, my dear.”

“But how...?”

“I promise you I’ll find a cure. Until then I’ll make sure you can’t hurt me.”

Coco had nodded. Maybe she was tired, maybe she didn’t believe him anyway, but she stopped asking any more questions. Instead, they slept together. Long after Coco had fallen to sleep, her head resting on his bare chest, Eldritch’s thoughts wandered to the recently purchased property for Eichorst’s and his bogus project of the so called animal processing factory. 

\---------------------->

Her eyes were crimson in the morning. It made Eldritch’s blood freeze. He had dreamed of the moment the evil creature’s disgusting tongue had sprang out of its rotten mouth to wound the woman he loved so much. He had not killed her by drinking her blood. The Master wanted Coco and him to suffer. He wanted him to see Coco turn into a Strigoi – into a dead thing with insatiable hunger for human blood and without a soul. 

This morning Eldritch had begged the German to make a cage at the ‘animal processing plant’ for his special needs. He had shouted and raged until Eichorst had agreed. The cage was placed in Elditch’s bedroom opposite to the window, far away from the light. Eldritch let hang up black curtains to make sure his lover would be safe from the sunlight. This cage, contrary to the ones in the factory, was made of silver. Further it was more spacey. Soon she’d lose the need for all what was human. Still he had decided to furnish her prison. He wanted her to be comfortable. He had asked Eichorst if she’d turn into a mindless monster like all the others.  
“The master does what the Master wants. I can’t tell you if he’s got plans with your precious whore other than to teach you your place.” 

Eldritch had wanted to decapitate that son of a bitch with one of his antique swords, but feared the Master’s wrath.  
The moment arrived when Coco showed first signs to turn. She became more restless and aggressive. She began to dread the sunlight and refused to eat any normal food. First strands of her beautiful blond hair began to fall out. So Eldritch decided to act in time.  
Coco fought against Eldritch and the bodyguards when they put her in the silver cage. 

“What are you doing, Eldritch. Please, don’t do this to me. No!” 

"I'm sorry. It's the only way, Coco. Please."

"Don't do this...no...you bastard", she cried.

He almost failed to follow through with his plan. Her eyes were bleeding. His heart was aching. But when he saw her soft features become mad and cold only moments later Eldritch nodded to his bodyguard and the man climbed on top of the cage to seal it off. He closed the only opening by securing it with a lock. 

Coco wore a silver muzzle now. Soon enough her tongue would be split in two and two and half meters long. He dreaded her transformation. It was repulsive. Coco’s hands were tied to prevent her from taking off the mouth piece. 

He was handed the key to the cage. Eldritch’s hand trembled when it closed around the item. The small key was of silver and attached to a necklace which was made of silver, too. It seemed best to keep the key close at all times. 

Coco touched the bars in order to rattle them and cried out. Her palms burned from the silver and she began to whimper, making terrible noises of distress and pain for hours. When she started to whisper his name like a threat he escaped. Eldritch fled the upper floor and fortified himself in his home office. He did not work, but just sat in his chair, staring out of the windows of the huge Stoneheart Tower that overlooked the skyline of New York City. He had several drinks. If only he could bring the Master to make her more than a mindless zombie, to equip her with Eichorst’s strength and intelligence. She could remain his Coco. He needed her the way she was now. What was her shell without her personality? Eventually, an idea started to form in his mind...


	2. In the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eldritch Palmer decides he won't bend to the Master's will any further and terminates his business relations with Eichhorst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies, no Beta involved. All mistakes are my own. I'm not a native speaker.

When she was a child Coco had been afraid of all kinds of things: circus clowns, dogs, the math teacher, the old neighbor from next door, forests by nightfall, hospitals, and hairy spiders. She had dreaded the spiders that ran across the cheap linoleum floor of her grandmother’s home. Sometimes she had lain awake in the dark for hours, frightened one of these monsters would climb up of the bed posts. But they never did.

She wanted to peel off her own skin, sitting in the dark, waiting, waiting for the inevitable. She couldn’t stop thinking of her mother, dying of cancer when she had been 12. Losing her hair had made her mother hysterical after the first chemotherapy sessions. Coco couldn’t look at her at first. It had been too painful to see her mother literally fading away. Her mother immediately started to wear a headscarf. She had bought many and each in different colors, hiding her illness from her daughter and everyone else. Coco’s dad had left the family not long after her mother’s disease was diagnosed. Shortly after, they had moved to Paris where her mom had been brought up. Her mother had fought against her illness for several years and had finally lost her life two months before Coco’s eighteens birthday. Her father had written to her, proposing she’d return to the States and live with him. Coco moved to New York City, but she never went to look for him or ever saw her father again.

She had told Eldritch she could sense evil in people still she’d welcomed him and his disgusting acquaintance with open arms into her life. Her mistake had cost her everything. Where did he go? Her thoughts were slipping away tonight. There in the dark, the fear was creeping up her back. The worms under her skin were moving and multiplying. She wanted to cut herself open to drain her veins, but a dark creature had already taken shape under the surface of her human appearance. She could feel it behind her eyes. Coco’s palms still burned from the silver bars.

“Where are you?” She screamed into the dark of his bedchamber. Why had he left her alone? He had promised to keep her safe.

\---

Eldritch held the key close to his heart. He could barely breathe.

“It’s a real shame Stone Hard turned back into Stone Heart.” An unpleasant voice with a foreign accent sniggered.

“It's been quite amusing for a time...watching you giving the sentimental fool. But to be quite frank Miss Marchand had it coming.” Eichhorst had entered his office. The German always moved as quietly as a spider.

Eldritch failed to reply.

“She wasn’t only arm candy to you then...poor, old Eldritch!”

“You know I loved her.”

Palmer refused to turn around to face the German. He kept staring out of the window, sipping on his drink.

“Don't be so bleak. You know it wasn’t my fault, the master does what...”

“Please, spare me the harangue. I know it too well. The Master does or does not. The Master dictates the rules of the game. That is what I understood by now. But has your master the power to bring people back from the dead?”

“I don’t believe so. At least not the way your question indicates.” Eichhorst circled his desk.

“Then why did you come back here, Eichhorst? There is nothing left you could use to coerce me into supporting your enterprise any longer.”

The creature smiled at him: “Ha! Ha! Humans are so small-minded. You always put your basic needs first: hunger, thirst, greed, desire. You’re missing the bigger picture, my friend.”

Eldritch got out of his chair: “I’m not your friend. I never was. You promised me eternal life. I did every single thing you asked of me. Instead of turning me you deceived me and murdered the one I love. You have to leave. Now!”

“You don’t understand, do you? There won’t be life without the Master. Either you decide to be on his side or you choose certain death. You cannot survive forever in your ivory tower. It’s crumbling, Eldritch. You no longer have a choice.”

Eldritch opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a device that looked similar to the remote control of a television set, only smaller. He hissed, his finger hovering over a red button: “I wasn’t born yesterday. I’m prepared to exterminate you. What I’m holding in my hand right now is a device that will switch on a system of UV lights right above our heads. I already tested it on some vampire intruders. It worked as expected. No survivors. So if you prefer keep wandering around as a living corpse over getting burned to a crisp I suggest you fuck off right now.”

Eichhorst surveyed the ceiling. He growled: “The Master sees. He will punish you for your betrayal.”

Eldritch’s finger almost touched the button now. “Get out of my tower, you bastard!”

The German adjusted his suit jacket, slowly walking over to the door. “You’re making a huge mistake. You’ll crawl back to us on all four once the White will have lost its power.”

Eldritch pressed the button and the UV-light system turned itself on.

Eichhorst jumped out of the room in time, cursing in his language: “Mistkerl!”

Palmer sat back down again. “I’m counting to ten. If you’re still in the building after I’ve ended my little countdown I’ll switch on all of the devices in here.”

He listened to the Germans retreating footsteps. When he heard that the doors of the elevator closed, Eldritch turned off the lights, leaning backwards in his chair. They had been careless. The Master had answered his prayers. He had saved Coco.

_She woke up almost looking like her former lovely self apart from an expression of horror in her face which had been caused by The Master’s unsettling features. But the godlike creature had vanished shortly after and Eldritch was finaly able to wrap Coco once more into his arms. She was shaking with fear while Eldritch confessed everything to her. He told his lover about his pact with the devil. After that he carried Coco to the bed, her clinging to him with fear and in awe. He tenderly touched the place on her bare chest, where, only hours ago, there had been a ghastly gunshot wound. Her skin was flawless. Seeing her like this, healthy and whole again, gave him a feeling of contentment that was unknown to Eldritch._

_“I don’t want to lose you ever, Coco. I’m so sorry this happened to you. The bullet was meant for me. It should have been me.”_

_“Stop this, Eldritch”, she whispered. “It wasn’t your fault.”_

_He held her even closer. “Are you alright? I don’t want you to be in pain, my dear.”_

_Her lips smiled at him. “I’m fine. Although, you could do something to make me even feel better.”_

_He attempted to leave the bed to get anything Coco wanted, but she held him back._

_“No, no, don’t go anywhere. I need you right here with me.”_

_“I’ll be back in a minute. Just tell me what you need?” He caressed her face._

_She smiled once more then her fingers wandered down to his collar to open the top button of his shirt._

_He stopped her by putting his hand over hers. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. You need to rest.”_

_“No, I feel fine. In fact, I feel surprisingly well rested.”_

 __“It’s the White. It makes you stronger.”_ _

_Coco had reverted to the task, opening a second and a third button. “I don’t care right now...just make me feel good.”_

No! Eldritch could not allow himself to dwell in the past. Now, there was not even a way to get the White. He’d die eventually while Coco would rot in that cage for all eternity. He had to get his hands on the Occido Lumen. The book was his last hope. No creature was invincible. There had to be a way to stop the Master. Maybe there was even a way to heal the diseased. Finding Setrakian had to be his top priority from now on. Maybe he could convince the old fool to join forces with him. If not, he’d not hesitate to kill him once and for all.


End file.
